Alaska news

• Convicted Tenakee Springs killer wins appeal

  19-01-2016 21:51
  
  A man found guilty of sexually assaulting and killing a woman in Tenakee Springs a decade ago has won an appeal for post-conviction relief.
  The Juneau Empire reports the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled Friday that James Harmon received inadequate representation from an attorney appointed to represent him.
  Harmon was sentenced to 72 years in prison in 2005 after being found guilty in the death of 19-year-old Maggie Wigen, who disappeared in Tenakee Springs in 2003.
  Court documents say Harmon s
  
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• NPS eyes reg changes for subsistence use of animal parts for the arts

  19-01-2016 21:35
  
  The National Park Service is proposing a regulatory change that would allow subsistence users to collect animal parts and plants for use in arts and crafts.
  Using caribou antlers as an example, NPS Alaska spokesman John Quinley says hunting would no longer be the only way to get them.
  “If you found caribou antlers that had been shed or from a natural mortality, like a wolf kill, it has not been legal for them to take those antlers,” Quinley said. “And this fixes that sort of st
  
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• Homer gym serves vets and homeless

  19-01-2016 21:23
  
  Kurt Leffler oversees LFS Kali Fight Team’s training. (Photo by Quinton Chandler/KBBI)
  An outreach program at Homer Gym offers people in need food, clothes, camaraderie and a place to work out. The goal of the Alaskan Warrior Class is to connect the larger Homer community with its veteran and homeless members.
  Six members of the LFS Kali Fight Team are warming up for their evening training at the Homer Gym. They’re going through the motions of a typical “ground and pound”
  
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• Kodiak food co-op grows fresh produce for island residents

  19-01-2016 21:20
  
  The majority of Kodiak’s produce is imported, which means the city and especially the villages often get old fruits and vegetables at higher prices than people in the Lower 48. One Kodiak food cooperative is in its second year of trying to remedy that.
  Members of the Kodiak Bounty Co-op contribute a variety of vegetables like kale and turnips to boxes that customers in the city and villages will buy for $455 dollars per 13-week season, or $35 per box. That’s one box per week and 13 w
  
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• Alaska editorials - KSL.com

  19-01-2016 19:40
  Education Week (subscription) (blog)
  Alaska editorials
  KSL.com
  The first Alaska Marine Highway System ferries to ply the waters of Southeast Alaska were the Malispina, the Taku and the Matanuska. As miles passed through the system's 50-year history, the number of ferries increased to about a dozen. The status of ...
  Home Schooling Increasingly Popular in Rural AlaskaEducation Week (subscription) (blog)all 4 news articles »
  

• Failure to act on Alaska's healthcare crisis is costly and inexcusable - Alaska Dispatch News

  19-01-2016 19:33
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Failure to act on Alaska's healthcare crisis is costly and inexcusable
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska's economic future is looking ever more dire by the day. With the budget shortfall, threatened cuts to services, the health care system sliding into oblivion, and the economic uncertainty of relying upon a single industry as a sole source of ...and more »
  

• Generator break-down leaves Alaska village with limited power - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

  19-01-2016 19:19
  Generator break-down leaves Alaska village with limited power
  Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Most residents of a western Alaska village have been without power since Saturday after a generator broke down. Anchorage television station KTUU (http://bit.ly/1KoarCD) reports the fan on Newtok's generator malfunctioned, ...and more »
  

• Kenai Peninsula power bills to go up in February

  19-01-2016 18:41
  
  Power bills are about to go up for communities on the Western Kenai Peninsula who are served by the Homer Electric Association.
  The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has approved HEA’s request for a temporary 3.25 percent rate increase. Joe Gallagher is a spokesperson for HEA.
  “It will be about a $3.15 increase to the monthly electric bills. So for the average member who uses about 550 kilowatt hours, the bill will go from approximately $138 dollars to approximately $141 dollars,&rdquo
  
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• Memorial fund established for lost mariner

  19-01-2016 18:40
  
  (Photo from the Lake and Peninsula Borough)
  The Alaska Food Policy Council has created a memorial fund for Roland Briggs, a Ugashik fisherman who went missing at sea this fall.
  In an email, the council’s co-chair Liz Snyder wrote that Briggs embodied the council’s mission to improve Alaska’s food system for the benefit of Alaskans.
  “Roland took pride in the self-reliant and independent spirit of rural Alaska and believed that to effect change in our state, rural communiti
  
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• Bacon survives K300 wringer to claim red lantern

  19-01-2016 18:38
  
  Kristin Bacon credits her 2016 K300 Red Lantern finish to her leader, Felon. (Photo by Jacki Klejka)
  Kristin Bacon of Big Lake is this year’s Kuskokwim 300 Red Lantern winner. The last finisher in this year’s icy sled dog race, Bacon Crossed the finish line Monday at 8:40 AM with an elapsed time of 62 hours and 10 minutes.
  “I must have seen 5 different kinds of terrain on the race that I had never imagined a dog sled being in,” said Bacon as she nursed an injured foot at
  
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• It's all in the ice: 'Alaska Proof' cast making spirits bright - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  19-01-2016 18:24
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  It's all in the ice: 'Alaska Proof' cast making spirits bright
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  From the waters of the Prince William Sound to the taste of caribou antlers and a good old Alaskan campfire, Alaska Distillery promises an adventure in every bottle of its vodka. The company is not only starting a buzz here in the last frontier — but ...
  

• World's oceans are warming quicker and deeper, scientists say - Alaska Dispatch News

  19-01-2016 17:41
  Alaska Dispatch News
  World's oceans are warming quicker and deeper, scientists say
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Thundering waterfalls send water from a melting glacier in Icy Bay into the Gulf of Alaska. NOAA photo. SAN FRANCISCO -- The Earth's oceans are absorbing more and more heat from a warming world, and the pace of the temperature rise is increasing with ...and more »
  

• Researchers delve into murky roots of mankind's sometimes best friend - Alaska Dispatch News

  19-01-2016 16:51
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Researchers delve into murky roots of mankind's sometimes best friend
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Greger Larson, a biologist in the archeology department at the University of Oxford, hopes a large database of ancient DNA will help determine where and when the domestication of dogs occurred. Andrew Testa / The New York Times. OXFORD, England ...and more »
  

• MMA's Greats of the States | Alaska: Cody McKenzie - Sherdog.com (blog)

  19-01-2016 16:15
  Sherdog.com (blog)
  MMA's Greats of the States | Alaska: Cody McKenzie
  Sherdog.com (blog)
  Plenty of Americans have never set foot on the soil and snow of the nation's largest state. With its frigid temperatures and dangerous wildlife, Alaska has long been a popular locale for adventure seekers wanting to test their mettle against Mother ...
  

• Is Alaska Air (ALK) Poised to Surprise Q4 Earnings Estimates? - Zacks.com

  19-01-2016 15:52
  Is Alaska Air (ALK) Poised to Surprise Q4 Earnings Estimates?
  Zacks.com
  We expect Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK - Analyst Report) to beat expectations when it reports fourth-quarter 2015 financial numbers, before the opening bell on Jan 21. Last quarter, Alaska Air recorded a 3.85% positive earnings surprise. Let's see how ...and more »
  

• Alaska Faces Budget Deficit As Crude Oil Prices Slide - NPR

  19-01-2016 13:28
  Alaska Faces Budget Deficit As Crude Oil Prices Slide
  NPR
  Alaska may overhaul the way it spends its oil wealth. While the state has a lot of oil, the price of oil has dropped so much that the state now has a $3 billion deficit in a $5 billion state budget. More From Economy. In 2015, China's GDP grew at its ...
  

• The Tongass Rainforest is Alaska's First Line of Climate Change Defense - SitNews

  19-01-2016 09:52
  SitNews
  The Tongass Rainforest is Alaska's First Line of Climate Change Defense
  SitNews
  (SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - A logging plan on the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska conflicts with President Obama's commitments to the Paris climate change agreements reached in December according to a new report. In November 2015, the ...
  

• Lance Mackey documentary returns to Alaska for big-screen showing - Alaska Dispatch News

  19-01-2016 06:49
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Lance Mackey documentary returns to Alaska for big-screen showing
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Almost a year after several sold-out showings in Anchorage, “The Great Alone” could be coming to more theaters in Alaska. The Lance Mackey documentary is scheduled for Feb. 9 screenings at movie theaters in Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks and Wasilla.and more »
  

• Alaska lawmakers prepare for historic session, to tackle unprecedented budget gap - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  19-01-2016 06:45
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Alaska lawmakers prepare for historic session, to tackle unprecedented budget gap
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Lawmakers will gavel in for session at the capitol on Tuesday. Their top priority: solving the state's unprecedented budget gap, a nearly $4 billion hole that gets bigger each day due to falling oil prices. As is annual tradition, most legislators ...
  

• KNBA News - Red Dog Zinc Mine Sues Northwest Alaska Borough Over Tax Increases - KNBA

  19-01-2016 05:48
  KNBA News - Red Dog Zinc Mine Sues Northwest Alaska Borough Over Tax Increases
  KNBA
  A world-class zinc mine operating in northwest Alaska is suing the Northwest Arctic Borough, claiming the borough has enacted an unfair severance tax. TeckAlaska claims the tax will double or triple payments by the Red Dog Mine to the borough.
  Zinc mine sues municipality over new severance taxJuneau Empire (subscription)
  Teck sues Alaska over 'severe' tax hikeCanadianManufacturing.comall 4 news articles &ra
  

• This Barrow couple had a freezing tundra wedding -- on skis - Alaska Dispatch News

  19-01-2016 05:17
  Alaska Dispatch News
  This Barrow couple had a freezing tundra wedding -- on skis
  Alaska Dispatch News
  David Ongley and Lisa Sobieniak pose on their wedding day under a gas line outside Barrow last April. They married in below-zero weather because skiing and staying active outdoors is important to them. Courtesy Lisa Sobieniak. BARROW — On the ...and more »
  

• Our Alaska starts Kickstarter to educate Alaskans about state fiscal situation - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  19-01-2016 04:39
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Our Alaska starts Kickstarter to educate Alaskans about state fiscal situation
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  The group called “Our Alaska” has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds so they can produce videos and other material about the state's fiscal crisis. Our Alaska member Ian Laing said the group's first video, which includes both dancing and ...
  

• Alaska's ferry system must make do with less -- and still serve its riders - Alaska Dispatch News

  19-01-2016 04:37
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Alaska's ferry system must make do with less -- and still serve its riders
  Alaska Dispatch News
  OPINION: Tight budget makes marine highway cuts inevitable - the trick is how to manage them with the least disruption for Alaska travelers. Pictured: The lights of Kodiak appear off the bow of the Tustumena as the ferry approaches the city. Marc Lester.and more »
  

• Alaska News Nightly: Monday, Jan. 18, 2016

  19-01-2016 03:40
  
  
  Stories are posted on the APRN news page. You can subscribe to APRN’s newsfeeds via email, podcast and RSS. Follow us on Facebook at alaskapublic.org and on Twitter @aprn.Download Audio
   
  Gov’s budget plan aims to reshape relationship with oil
  Rachel Waldholz, APRN – Anchorage
  After months of public debate, lawmakers will gavel in Tuesday, Jan. 19, in Juneau to begin fashioning a solution to the state’s budget c
  
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• Gov’s plan aims to reshape state’s relationship with oil

  19-01-2016 03:36
  
  
  “There is no perfect plan, other than the plan that gets done,” Walker said. “The worst plan [is] the plan of doing nothing, and continuing on the course that we are on.” Photo: Rachel Waldholz/APRNAfter months of public debate, lawmakers will gavel in on Tuesday in Juneau to begin fashioning a solution to the state’s budget crisis. With oil dipping ominously below $30 a barrel, Alaska faces a deficit of at least $3.5 billion — or two-thirds the
  
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• Pivotal Alaskan economist Arlon Tussing dies at 82 - Alaska Public Radio Network

  19-01-2016 03:22
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Pivotal Alaskan economist Arlon Tussing dies at 82
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  An economist who played an important role in the shaping of modern Alaska has passed away. Dr. Arlon Tussing began his work in Alaska at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Economics in 1965. He was later affiliated with the Institute of ...and more »
  

• Pivotal Alaskan economist Arlon Tussing dies at 82

  19-01-2016 03:21
  
  An economist who played an important role in the shaping of modern Alaska has passed away. Dr. Arlon Tussing began his work in Alaska at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Economics in 1965. He was later affiliated with the Institute of Social and Economic Research, and advised the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey.
  Arlon Tussing. Photo: Facebook.
  Economist John Tachotsky says Tussing was an economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs in the early 1
  
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• Moose hunter’s land jurisdiction lawsuit goes to Supreme Court

  19-01-2016 03:14
  
  A dispute between an Alaska boater and the National Park Service will be heard by the highest court in the country this week on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Lower courts have rejected Anchorage resident John Sturgeon’s suit challenging Park Service authority to regulate Alaska rivers, where they pass through federal conservation units.
  Where the Charley River meets the Yukon. (Photo by USGS)
  John Sturgeon’s journey to the Supreme Court started during a September 2007 trip in the Yukon-Charley
  
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• Video: Volunteer spirit in full swing at Food Bank of Alaska - Alaska Dispatch News

  19-01-2016 03:13
  Alaska Dispatch News
  Video: Volunteer spirit in full swing at Food Bank of Alaska
  Alaska Dispatch News
  About 50 volunteers pitched in for the Food Bank of Alaska's monthly “box build,” held this month on Martin Luther King Day, January 18, 2016. The food will be given to poor elderly people around Alaska. Twenty tons of food are packed into 1,500 thirty ...
  Food Bank of Alaska Hosts MLK Jr Day of Serviceyouralaskalinkall 10 news articles »
  

• After corruption allegations, tribes call on AVCP to meet

  19-01-2016 03:13
  
  Four tribes in western Alaska are calling on the Association of Village Council Presidents to broaden the focus of a special meeting originally intended to address regional governance, and to set a date for the gathering.
  Association of Village Council Presidents’ 51st Annual Conference. (Dean Swope/ KYUK)
  On Jan. 8, KYUK in Bethel reported it had obtained documents showing AVCP used grants for intended to help needy families to keep a vocational flight school going. In December, AVCP laid
  
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• A moose-hunter and his hovercraft tell the Supreme Court Alaska is different - Washington Post

  19-01-2016 03:08
  Washington Post
  A moose-hunter and his hovercraft tell the Supreme Court Alaska is different
  Washington Post
  John Sturgeon's path to the Supreme Court began in a broken-down hovercraft on a gravel shoal in middle-of-nowhere Alaska. He was on his way to hunt moose. Instead, Sturgeon became the target of three officers of the National Park Service. Hunting ...
  Moose hunter's land jurisdiction lawsuit goes to Supreme CourtAlaska Public Radio Network
  Alaska man takes fight over land access rig
  

• Alaska governor wants to look at climate change impacts - KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather

  19-01-2016 03:07
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Alaska governor wants to look at climate change impacts
  KTVA.com - Alaska News and Weather
  Gov. Bill Walker wants to look at the impacts that Alaska can anticipate to its villages and coastline from climate change. Walker says people can agree or disagree on the cause of climate change but says Alaska is dealing with the effects. He notes ...
  Gov's plan aims to reshape state's relationship with oilAlaska Public Radio Networkall 43 news articles »
  

• Gov hopes nonpartisan politics will help cross party lines

  19-01-2016 03:03
  
  Gov. Bill Walker is in Juneau preparing for tomorrow’s start to the legislative session. Regardless of other considerations, the big challenge will be finding common ground with lawmakers over how to fix the state’s large and growing budget deficit.
  Gov. Bill Walker (File photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
  In a conversation this morning, Walker says the longer the state waits the more challenging solving the problem becomes:
  WALKER: Some believe that the price of oil will bounce up aga
  
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• Encore Presentation: Mercy Street

  19-01-2016 02:27
  
  (Photo courtesy of Antony Platt/PBS)
   
  We will rebroadcast the first episode of Mercy Street, the new Civil War drama by PBS on the following days and times:
  Tuesday, January 19 at 3:00 a.m.Tuesday, January 19 at 10:00 p.m.Thursday, January 21 at 8:00 p.m.
  These broadcasts will preempt programs previously scheduled during those times.
  
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• Oil spill response barge breaks loose in Unalaska

  19-01-2016 01:47
  
  The 200-foot-long oil spill response barge Ibis, anchored in Iliuliuk Bay for the past several months, came off its mooring Saturday afternoon in rough seas and drifted onto Front Beach, requiring a coordinated response effort.
  The barge is operated by Resolve Magone Marine Services. As of Saturday evening, a crew was able to tow the barge off of the beach.
  The Ibis is a relative newcomer to Unalaska; It got its permit in May from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to
  
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• State, Native interests also ride on hovercraft case in Supreme Court

  19-01-2016 01:33
  
  U.S. Supreme Court will hear an Alaska-specific case Wednesday. (Photo: Wikimedia)
  The Sturgeon case to be argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday is about hovercraft, and whether the Park Service can ban them from rivers flowing through Alaska’s national parks and preserves. But the case has alarmed a lot of people with no interest in hovercraft, and it splits Alaska Native stakeholders: Some subsistence advocates say a decision for Sturgeon could threaten subsistence
  
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• Session preview: Gov’s plan would reshape state’s relationship with oil

  19-01-2016 01:31
  
  “There is no perfect plan, other than the plan that gets done,” Walker said. “The worst plan [is] the plan of doing nothing, and continuing on the course that we are on.” Photo: Rachel Waldholz/APRNAfter months of public debate, lawmakers will gavel in on Tuesday in Juneau to begin fashioning a solution to the state’s budget crisis. With oil dipping ominously below $30 a barrel, Alaska faces a deficit of at least $3.5 billion — or two-thirds the
  
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• Comment due on Mental Health Trust lease to Usibelli

  19-01-2016 00:35
  
  Alaska’s Mental Health Trust Land’s Office is in the process of determining the issue of a ground lease of Trust land to Usibelli Coal. The approximately 95-acre parcel is located adjacent to Usibelli’s Wishbone Hill prospect near Palmer.
  The stated purpose of the lease is to allow Usibelli to construct a haul road to it’s existing Wishbone Hill mine.
  The terms of the lease require Usibelli to pay over$13,000 a year for the duration of 25 years for the property.
  A&nb
  
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• Comment deadline for Alaska Mental Health Trust Lands Office lease - Alaska Public Radio Network

  19-01-2016 00:35
  Comment deadline for Alaska Mental Health Trust Lands Office lease
  Alaska Public Radio Network
  Alaska's Mental Health Trust Land's Office is in the process of determining the issue of a ground least of Trust land to Usibelli Coal. The approximately 95 acre parcel is located adjacent to Usibelli's Wishbone Hill prospect near Palmer. The stated ...
  

• Comment deadline for Alaska Mental Health Trust Lands Office lease

  19-01-2016 00:35
  
  Alaska’s Mental Health Trust Land’s Office is in the process of determining the issue of a ground least of Trust land to Usibelli Coal. The approximately 95 acre parcel is located adjacent to Usibelli’s Wishbone Hill prospect near Palmer.
  The stated purpose of the lease is to allow Usibelli to construct a haul road to it’s existing Wishbone Hill mine.
  The terms of the lease require Usibelli to pay over thirteen thousand dollars a year for the duration of 25 years for the
  
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• Alaska Airlines CEO to speak at chamber meeting in Kennewick - Tri-City Herald

  19-01-2016 00:10
  Tri-City Herald
  Alaska Airlines CEO to speak at chamber meeting in Kennewick
  Tri-City Herald
  File: Alaska Airlines President and CEO Brad Tilden listens to a question from a reporter during a 2012 press event at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. Ted S. Warren AP. i. File: Alaska Airlines President and CEO Brad Tilden listens to ...
  

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